She was staying over at the Grimm's house until the dorms opened up, and they were managing to pass the time.
"So," she said, slinging her guitar into position. "How about one of the greatest works of meta-narrative in the history of 20th-century art?"
Daniel is always more than happy to have Jen's daughter hanging out. They shared enough common interests, and had known each other long enough... and gotten into enough trouble together... that she was like a sister. Or at least like someone he'd be happy to go on a long road trip with, which might be even better.
"Sounds good." he replies, checking his mic really quick, and making one more slight adjustment on his bass. "What did you have in mind?"
A grin. "Unfortunately, I don't have a harmonica," Elaine admits as she starts the opening chords, adapting as best as possible, to Blues Traveller's 'Hook'."
"Wait, wait, wait, wait..." he says, after the first couple chords. He races off, returning with a slightly dented harmonica.
"I don't play, but I do collect souvenirs. Shame to do Blues Traveler without a harmonica if someone plays."
Elaine laughs gleefully. "Awesome! Thanks, Daniel." She takes the rig and after a moment's adjustment, gets started again, this time giving Popper's Canon in Snark its proper form, glad to still not have to make a total one-girl band of it.
Daniel grins, slinging the bass back into place, tapping his foot to keep the beat, and leaning in close to his mic for the drawn out first notes.
"It doesn't matter what I say, So long as I sing with inflection. That makes you feel I'll convey, Some inner truth or vast reflection."
The smile gets a little more manic. -- when she's unoccupied enough to discuss it, Elaine will say that if there's a nod to to 'irradiated extremes' in her behavior, it may well be in her expressions. Smiles aren't her default, but they get pretty intense when she's getting expressive in one way or another. And right now, she's geeking out a bit, enjoying herself on multiple levels as the song continues, through the languid lyrical admission of the persistent, deliberately evasive emotional manipulation, then harmonizing on the refrain as "The /hook/ brings you /back/."
He puts extra energy into the refrain as she sings along, letting them both get that much more into the higher energy notes.
Then he drops back down in range, getting into what he's pretty sure is her favorite verse.
"There is something amiss,
I am being insincere.
In fact I don't mean any of this,
Still my confession draws you near.
To confuse the issue I refer,
To familiar heroes from long ago.
No matter how much Peter loved her.
What made the Pan refuse to grow."
He's got her pegged there. It's layered, but blatant, but paradoxical but ...etc. Elaine's analytic processes -- and the thoughts that watched those processes from behind, and the thoughts that watched those -- revels in that stuff. She's practically bouncing as she belts along with the chorus, just barely saving her breath enough to launch into the harmonica solo.like there's nothing else in the world to do.
He settles back for the harmonica solo, just keeping the beat and following the baseline. It also lets him catch his breath fully, inhaling deep, and seeing if he can manage, via superstrength, to hit the really fast bit of the vocals all in one breath.
"Suck it in suck it in suck it in
If you're Rin Tin Tin or Anne Boleyn
Make a desperate move or else you'll win
And then begin
To see
What you're doing to me this MTV is not for free
It's so PC it's killing me
So desperately I sing to thee
Of love
Sure but also of rage and hate and pain and fear of self
And I can't keep these feelings on the shelf
I've tried well no in fact I lied
Could be financial suicide but I've got too much pride inside
To hide or slide
I'll do as I'll decide and let it ride until I've died
And only then shall I abide this tide
Of catchy little tunes
Of hip three minute diddys
I wanna bust all your balloons
I wanna burn all your cities to the ground
I've found
I will not mess around
Unless I play then hey
I will go on all day. Hear what I say
I have a prayer to pray
That's really all this was
And when I'm feeling stuck and need a buck
I don't rely on luck because..."
and a big breath, to hit the big rise at the end to welcome her back in for the final chorus.
And back in she comes, with ridiculous amounts of enthusiasm; after enjoying the patter with schoolgirl giddiness, she holds nothing back as they finish, then decrescendo.
Elaine leans back with a dramatic sigh as she hits the last chord. "Man, I love that song!"
By the end, he's bouncing instead of just toe tapping to the beat, fully invested in the power finish. The wide grin remains as the last notes fade.
"That is a great song. Nice harmonica work."
"Thanks. You were fantastic -- pun intended. Thank goodness for superlungs, huh?"
"Easier than practicing my circular breathing some more. What do you think, does it go on the setlist? And if so, what comes off to add it?" Their constantly evolving 'perfect' set of 18 songs for a covers CD or concert.
"Tough call. We might have to save it as a special-occasion encore, because... I mean, we can't drop Leadbelly, for instance.""Oh yeah, Leadbelly is a must. Seems a shame though, you really went all out on that one. We could drop Ike and Tina? Cause, you know, built for duets, but he was kind of a bastard."
"...Granted, yeah, pretty lousy connotations. Replacing Ike and Tina it is, then."
"Ok, so... where does that leave us? I mean, eventually we should add a couple songs of our own, but covers is probably the best way to get a couple gigs... I mean, if you're ready?"
"That leaves us with 'Down by the Riverside,' 'Misunderstood,' 'Casey Jones,' because you know I need my railroad ballads, 'Hit Somebody,' and 'Hook' -- you still willing to indulge me on the Sondheim?"
"Ok, we keep the Sondheim, as long as you'll let me keep Key to the Highway. We also have to keep the Joplin... though I'm flexible on which song. Did we want to try and include something by Cash? But not 'Jackson'... that's too easy."
"Deal. And when it comes to the Carter-Cash stuff, 'If I were a Carpenter' is too hard. No way could I keep from laughing. But 'Boy Named Sue''s pretty irresistable if your parents won't get on your case for cursing."
"My parents? No, no problems there. That's pretty mild, and its all on stage. I don't think Dad would care in general... so, ok, Boy Named Sue it is." Of course, it will probably change dozens of more times, but its always fun.
"Yep. Cool. ...I do want to work on something of our own at some point, though. Maybe after we've gotten a chance to perform, though."
